SoSH: Not just Rob [Bradford], everyone is out of the loop on this. Edes latest from a Sox source says the market is too "crazy" for Crawford. Heyman just a little while ago said the Angels were pretty much the destination.

Now build us a bullpen, Theo! And grab Russell Martin while you're at it. Even after having broken his hip, I REALLY would love to see him in a Sox uniform, apologies to Saltaladmszlfmsdfmlasmsmamamachaiadfskia.

I really do hate the mentality of NEEDING to OVERSPEND, but then again, it's not my money. I still get antsy over these big contracts, especially $20 mil for a guy like Crawford, but hey, this is exciting, anyways.

Eric Van, with a good point at SoSH: "They could have been just fine and completely competitive with Kalish and Cameron in LF this year. So it's important to realize that they looked at the LF vacancy that was opening up a year from now and decided that there was no one they could count on anyone being available that they liked nearly as much as they like Crawford right now."

UPDATE, 12:28 p.m.: The deal came to fruition late last night according to a Major Source with direct knowledge of the negotiations. The deal will be complete upon Crawford taking a physical, which could come as soon as today.

The deal makes Crawford the highest-paid outfielder in baseball history. His contract language includes partial no-trade protection. ...

The Red Sox see the speedy Crawford as having the ability to hit third, adding depth to a lineup already bolstered by Gonzalez ...

This is what I get for going to bed early... a nice surprise crawling across my news feed this morning! Crawford should be a nice addition to the lineup. Without thumbing through the previous comments here, my guess would be that Ellsbury gets moved back to center, which seems more his natural position. Of course, I'm basing this on his limited play in LF last season.

Wow. This was some kinda news to come home to last night! I'm stoked. Saw yesterday afternoon that he was signing with the Halos, which made sense, and I really didn't think we would pursue very hard after the Gonzalez deal. Yay for surprises!In Theo we Trust indeed

Peter Abraham was just on the radio this morning and talked about how the Red Sox will still come in under budget this year, at this point, and still have $10 million to spend on relief pitchers, etc.

For instance, Boston was still paying money to Julio Lugo and Billy Wagner last year!

He also brought up the point of perhaps a boring winter meetings next year because the Red Sox are pretty well set, provided this season goes pretty well. All five starters are signed through 2012 and the only hole you'd be looking at in the lineup would be RF, where Ryan Kalish is expected to take over after Drew leaves.

That was a classic night; our little college basketball team hosted North Carolina [got killed, but in front of a 12,000 sellout for the first time in years], then to the pub with buddies, then home in time to feed the baby and one last check of twitter, and I see Pete Abe's first tweet. Holy Sheet! Wake up to see that it was real. It's gonna be a fun few weeks!! Love all the comments here too on this thread. Wood indeed. Maybe "Wood" becomes Crawford's nickname?

"Numbers at fenway are a function of the red sox pitching staff, therefore they are irrelevant to me."

With players changing teams so often, especially relievers, the park you hit in would matter somewhat...right? Anyway, quick AL East report: hits great at the New Loo. Is a power machine north of the border. Seems to be fine at Fenway South. His Trop #s are a little above his career #s.

Thanks for that jere...To clarify that earlier point - no, fenway numbers aren't completely irrelevant but you figure a majority of his ABs would have been against Beckett/Buchholz/Lester/Dice-K/Wakefield etc. which is why I'd be more interested in seeing how he's done against the other teams in the league.

Thanks for the splits link allan, was going to look it up but you beat me to it. One thing that quickly jumped out at me was his .396 average with the bases loaded. Sounds good!